Fans greet the peloton during stage fourteen of the 2012 Tour de France from Limoux to Foix on July 15, 2012 in La Bastide Sur-L'Hers, France.

PAU, France — I’m back in the French saddle again. I’m at the Tour de France after a three-year absence. I knew it was the Tour the minute after I picked up my rental car in Toulouse because I was lost within 30 seconds.

France’s roads are very unforgiving. You take a wrong turn onto the wrong freeway, known as autoroutes in France, and often it’s 20 miles before there’s another exit. I took the wrong entry road coming out of the rental car and I got myself an involuntary full-scale tour of Toulouse before I found my way east. I usually wait for certain signs to tell me I’m going the wrong direction, such as, say, “Welcome to Switzerland.”

Reporter John Henderson is covering the Tour de France for The Denver Post …

Toulouse, France – Sorry if this blog has typos. My hands are still trembling from nearly wiping out the entire peloton Friday.

I had nothing to do with it. The culprit was one Matt White, the driver of Team Garmin-Chipotle’s lead car. I earned the gift of riding in the passenger’s seat. Actually, no one seemed terribly worried. Apparently, in his first year on the job, White has developed a reputation as one of the best drivers in the Tour.

I didn’t know if I was more impressed with White or the cyclists after seeing them up close and personal. As we drove along with the peloton, I could see their sweat, hear their cries and thought I’d get winged by their flying water bottles.

Despite a drug culture right out of rural Colombia and a belief that cyclists have to be the world’s dumbest athletes to test the world’s toughest anti-doping police, I’ve always respected their physical abilities. I never thought I could respect a man who can ride a bike around France more than I did but I do now.Read more…